Mohammad Kaif Biography

A busy, fidgety man at the crease, Mohammad Kaif could shift gears at will, had a decent array of strokes, ran with fervour between wickets, and manned cover and cover-point with panache. Against Sri Lanka in 2003 he became the first non-wicketkeeper to take 4 catches in a single World Cup.

Kaif led India to their first Under-19 World Cup back in 2000. Two months later he played a solitary Test against South Africa and was dropped for well over a year despite not doing too poorly.

He was in and out of the Test team after that, never really cementing a place, despite scoring 64 and 55 in consecutive innings in the 2004-05 home series against Australia. Against England in 2005-06 he gritted it out for a six-hour 91, adding 128 for the seventh wicket with Anil Kumble to pull India out of danger. He got 148 not out at Gros Islet three months later. And despite averaging 57 in the series, he never played again.

His ODI average of 32 matches his Test average of 33. His most famous innings came in the NatWest Trophy final of 2002, when he remained unbeaten on a 75-ball 87, shepherding India to a thrilling last-over chase of 326 after they were 146 for 5. In his next match, against Zimbabwe in the Champions Trophy, he got 111* — then the highest ODI score by a No. 7 batsman.

In domestic cricket he was a giant for Uttar Pradesh, leading them to the Ranji Trophy in 2005-06 and again in the finals of 2007-08 and 2008-09. He led Andhra in 2015-16, and became Chhattisgarh’s first captain the season after.

Kaif also played for Leicestershire and Derbyshire. He was part of Rajasthan Royals’ IPL-winning side of 2008. He later switched allegiance to Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

He contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections for Indian National Congress from Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh, but lost so heavily that he had to forfeit his deposit.